CUE 2009 presentation

These are the resources I'm using for my presentation at CUE 2009.

Using the open source two-way street in the classroom

• Open source participation for K-12 classes
• http://teachingopensource.org
• https://fedorahosted.org/k12linux/
• http://join.fedoraproject.org

Outline of talk

• 00:00 - 00:05 - Questions & Intro - What is open source? Do you know what Linux is? What grade levels and types of schools are here?
• 00:06 - 00:12 - Open source and free culture - What is, how does it fit in to students future
• 00:13 - 00:25 - Fitting open source participation in to the classroom
• 00:26 - 00:35 - Examples and ideas
• 00:36 - 00:55 - Q&A, then close before the hour

1. Introductions and brief explanation of open source
2. Why should educators use contributing to open source in the classroom?
   1. Benefits to the student
   2. Benefits to the educator
   3. Benefits to the educational institution
   4. Benefits to the community
3. How are educators contributing to open source in the classroom today?
   1. What materials are out there already?
   2. What successes has the Fedora Project had?
4. How do you get started using open source as an educational tool?

Questions and intro

• Everyone familiar with open source? How about a Linux distro?
• I work for Red Hat, we sell free software.
  • A robust free culture produces better ideas, so we get better people working on better products; then we sell subcriptions to service and support

Open source and free culture - What is, how does it fit in to students future

• Open source is about the four freedoms for software in action:
  1. Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program for any purpose.
  2. Freedom 1: The freedom to study and modify the program.
  3. Freedom 2: The freedom to copy the program so you can help your neighbor.
  4. Freedom 3: The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits.
  • Freedoms 1 and 3 require source code to be available because studying and modifying software without its source code is highly impractical.
• Free culture is about sharing, social media -- it's YouTube, it's Wikipedia, it's remixing songs and digital art
  • Fedora is a remix culture, with tools and processes
• This is defining the business and social environment of the present and future
  • You can better prepare kids for the future with low or no cost alternatives and a moderate amount of ramp-up time.

Fitting open source participation in to the classroom

1. First usage is as a no-cost 'alternative' to expensive proprietary applications
   • Word processors, spreadsheets, presentation tools
   • Graphics/design
   • Music
   • Science (all)
2. Second is getting involved in using and adopting open curriculum
   • Like code, this is content with all the freedoms
3. Third is finding a way to participate
   • Collaborate with other educators on open curriculum
   • Contribute back
   • Find projects to participate in
4. Fourth is channeling classwork in to participation
   • This is where the two-way street really opens up
   • Empowering students to make a difference, learn, and be part of a global community

Open_source_participation_for_K-12_classes has specific ideas.

Examples and ideas

• http://www.schoolforge.net/education-software
• Red Hat High

Slides

• File:CUE 2009 slides.odp
• File:CUE 2009 slides.pdf

Other links

• http://sugarlabs.org
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software